


it's no fun to feel like a fool (dark shadows)

by weishenvi



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Fluff and Angst, Human/Vampire Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Vampires, but nothing graphic, mention of anxiety, no blood or gore don't worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 08:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23968027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weishenvi/pseuds/weishenvi
Summary: It’s not that Hendery knows nothing about his boyfriend, no, but family talk isn’t really their thing. Hendery tells stories about his mom sometimes, but when it comes to Xiaojun’s parents, he knows next to nothing. They’re like shadow figures in his mind, he knows they exist, but that’s about it, not knowing their age, occupation, favorite colors, political orientation, and favorite foreign language film leaves some information to be desired, but he never presses. So, what happens when it's time to meet the parents?
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten & Qian Kun, Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun
Comments: 20
Kudos: 88
Collections: Weishen Fest: ANYTHING BUT HUMAN





	it's no fun to feel like a fool (dark shadows)

**Author's Note:**

> from prompt #004 i hope i did it some justice :) please enjoy  
> title references kali uchis and the film dark shadows

It really was like any Tuesday night. Sitting at the kitchen table, Hendery and Xiaojun are slumped around their respective work, and the former is sure the bright white light hanging above them is doing neither any particular favors (if anything, making their dark circles more pronounced). Sunlight was long abandoned, as Xiaojun said he was getting a headache and seeing the outside world reminded the two they were stuck inside. It’s junior year, just about to be midterm season, and to be blunt, they’re both getting their asses kicked. Papers are spread around the table, forming a sort of academic tablecloth that did not suit the rest of the dorm’s modest decoration of some of Hendery’s anime figurines and his roommate Jaemin’s infinite amount of small potted plants.  
Hendery is pretty sure his hair is permanently dented from how he’s been gripping it for the last 3 hours, mindlessly tapping his pencil against his laptop. To his right, his boyfriend is in similar disarray, chin in his hands, staring down at a music theory assignment that so far does not seem like it is going to write itself, much to the chagrin of his occasional verbal encouragement to the papers in front of him.  
“Babe?”  
“Yeah, what’s up?” Hendery answers, but without looking up, his eyes deftly trained on the half written paper in front of him, poetic devices and quoted stanzas swimming around the page, but he defocuses a little feeling his boyfriend’s hand on his leg.  
“Are you almost done? I’m bored.” Xiaojun whines, a frown evident in his voice.  
“Would you want to like, makeout and watch an old thriller or something?” He continues, his voice lilting up at the end, “I think I might be going braindead working on this.”  
Hendery straightens up to contemplate his options, now tapping his jaw with the pencil instead. Obviously, literally anyone would want to take up the proposition just offered to them, especially him, but if he doesn’t get some analysis in about old, white, European poetry he can kiss his almost 4.0 GPA goodbye instead. On the other hand, his roommate Jaemin is out for the evening, something about taking a painting class so he can impress an art major he’s got a huge crush on (therefore leaving the room free for hours).  
“Hmm… ok gimme 30 minutes.”  
Makeout and movie accomplished (The Silence of the Lambs tonight!), the couple found themselves relaxed against Hendery’s headboard. Xiaojun was behind Hendery, with his arm wrapped around his shoulders, the younger’s head comfortably tucked underneath his own. As the credits rolled by, Hendery smiled to himself, shifting his body to get even closer to his boyfriend. Even though the semesters get tough, they’ve had a great 3 years with each other, and he wouldn’t trade them for the world. He remembers how they met, as endlessly confused freshmen at orientation, both frantically trying to find shade from the unforgiving August sun beating down on them, totally down to ditch the lame scavenger hunt games the school organizes for the newcomers. From then on, it really was just a natural progression of things, bringing snacks for each other to their respective buildings, shy confessions, hand holding, Xiaojun teaching him drums (offering guitar, piano, harp lessons and more, he really knew a lot), as well as some midnight walks, it’s really been great.  
Breaking his reminiscence is the repeated tensing of Xiaojun’s body behind him, and he feels a short, forced exhale. Turning his head, Hendery angles his face to better see his boyfriend’s, squinting a little in the darkened room.  
“Jun, you okay? Feeling alright?”  
“Mm, yeah, don’t worry.”  
As a trained Xiaojunologist, Hendery is not convinced by this.  
“Wait… is it that freakin’ professor?” he begins to sit up, “The one giving you shit about that paper? Seriously Jun let me know if it is I’ll march right up to his office hours and deal with him there because-”  
He’s cut off by a pair of hands grabbing his and squeezing. Hendery feels himself relax, albeit a little involuntarily.  
“No not exactly, though I do appreciate your offer to defend my honor. It’s um,” a pause “about my parents.”  
Oh. That’s really unexpected.  
It’s not that Hendery knows nothing about his boyfriend, no, but family talk isn’t really their thing. Hendery tells stories about his mom sometimes, but when it comes to Xiaojun’s parents, he knows next to nothing. They’re like shadow figures in his mind, he knows they exist, but that’s about it, not knowing their age, occupation, favorite colors, political orientation, and favorite foreign language film leaves some information to be desired, but he never presses. The most he ever heard was that they were “a little eccentric”, which he always chalked up to be the reason why Xiaojun never really mentioned them, after all, his boyfriend wasn’t that flashy, going through most days in neutral tones and his ‘comfy loafers’ (not to be confused with his fancier ‘business loafers’). God, he likes his boyfriend so much.  
“What about your parents? Is everything all good?”  
Xiaojun seems to think about it, “Yeah, everything is fine. It’s not really about them per say, it’s kinda about us.”  
Hendery mind struggles to not go down rabbit holes at this point, his thoughts desperately struggling to throw themselves into worst case scenarios. Maybe Xiaojun’s parents are homophobic, maybe they’ll have to break up, maybe they’re moving back to China and they’re taking him with them and he won’t even be able to throw Xiaojun a birthday party like he promised and maybe-  
“I can hear you thinking, you know.” he rubs Hendery’s hand with his thumb in circles, “It’s really not that bad… I’m just surprised.”  
Hendery nods, still not really sure where this is going, trying to drag himself out of imagining the worst still.  
“I know I’m not really saying a lot right now, and that’s not really helping you. They just um… want to meet you.”  
“Oh thank god,” Hendery breathes out, “I thought you were gonna break up with me, or they were dying, or you had to leave, like, forever!”  
Reality had not fully crashed in on him yet.  
“Wait… meet them? Like in person? Holy shit.”  
“Believe me,” Xiaojun supplies, “I’m as surprised as you.”  
Once this is more fully processed he turns fully to face his boyfriend, Hendery smiles, “Well, I’m excited to meet them then!”  
Xiaojun manages a grimace at best, and they move on to watching an old Dracula movie, Jun’s pick.  
Hendery probably would have been more excited however, if they weren’t meeting this weekend. It’s not like he would find himself saying no to anything, just that it’s not enough time to prepare. He knew absolutely nothing about these people, and if they were anything like their son then he did not feel remotely worldly enough to communicate with them. He was only a lowly English major, nothing grand to speak of. Would they think he wasn’t good enough for their son? Will they be impressed if he discusses his thoughts and feelings about The Iliad? Would he be cast out into the street from their house? He tries to tell himself that isn’t likely, but at this point, anything feels possible.  
Luckily enough the week still went on and as that time passed Xiaojun seemed to become more and more stressed, chalking it up to his workload but Hendery knew better. Meeting the parents was a silent threat looming over the both of them, though Hendery still tried to see the bright side. He’d be learning more about the life and kin of his favorite boy in the entire world! That’s reason enough to at least give the whole thing a shot, even if he feels there’s a 65% chance the entire thing is a disaster (and his anxiety supplies that somehow, this will be all his fault).  
Sooner than anyone likes, Friday evening comes, rushing through the week with a vengeance. Hendery had spent days previous trying on and taking off every iteration of his and Jaemin’s clothes possible, recruiting the help of Jinsoul from across the hall who majored in fashion design. Only with their combined brain power was anything accomplished because Xiaojun’s “wear anything you want to, babe” was just not cutting it for his nerves. Outfit after outfit was tried on and Hendery thought it was all over until the night before, when Jinsoul threw him a final outfit. When he stepped out in it, she collapsed back onto her bed, letting out a sigh of relief.  
“My job here is done.”  
Now, standing outside his boyfriend’s dorm room was Hendery, dressed up in a crisp, white undershirt, with a blue dress shirt over (Jinsoul insisted the top 3 buttons be left undone for fashion’s sake, he’ll thank her properly for her time later) and his best dress pants and shoes. Knocking on Xiaojun’s door made him nervous for the first time since their first date, when he came to pick him up so they could walk to a bowling place, as 18 year olds really only have so many options financially. When the door finally opened, Hendery was not prepared for what he saw. Shirking his usual soft colors, Xiaojun was dressed up in a dark red skinny trousers, wearing some of the shiniest black shoes Hendery had ever seen, with a black dress shirt up top tucked in. He was stunned, yeah, his boyfriend looked hot as hell, but where did these clothes come from? He could have sworn he’d seen the inside of Xiaojun’s closet before a couple times.  
“Ready to go? You look really nice by the way.” Xiaojun offers, some of the nervous air replaced with the warmth from his compliment.  
“Thanks, but I’m nothing special right now, look at you!” Hendery smooths out a wrinkle in the other’s shirt, “Where did you even get these from?”  
“Ah, we usually wear stuff like this around the house, it’s not really a big deal, just not really my thing for day to day,” he shrugs, “let’s head out, then.”  
Hendery nods, following Xiaojun like a puppy, unable to stop thinking about what kind of family has house attire like that. They hop into Xiaojun’s sensible Subaru and head on their way, taking back roads Hendery in his 3 years in the area has never ventured onto himself. Jun’s connected to the aux and they’re both humming to their collaborative playlist (titled 00s Jamz- they were in a nostalgic mood), the younger’s nerves begin to dissipate the more he loses himself in following the beat in the songs that pass. They both laugh at one point because Xiaojun snuck a Mozart piece onto the playlist. Xiaojun defends his decision saying it wasn't specified what century was to be picked. He had such a fine time in the car Hendery almost doesn’t notice they’ve made it to a neighborhood he doesn’t recognize. Tilting to lean towards the window, he peers out into the night, but without the help of streetlights, he struggles to make out any houses beyond room lights left on.  
What does stand out is the house on top of the hill he sees in the distance, something about it catching his attention. Maybe it’s the impressive stature of the building, dark wood and seemingly 3 or 4 floors high. Perhaps it’s its place in the neighborhood, looking over the rest of the houses, looking like it is watching over them. It’s also just plain creepy, looking like haunted house Halloween adverts he had seen as a child.  
“How much longer do you think?” Hendery wonders, feeling like they’ve been driving for a while. His eyes were still not leaving the house on the hill.  
Xiaojun doesn’t take his attention off the road, but reaches a hand over to give his boyfriend’s shoulder a squeeze, “Not too much longer now.”  
Before he realized and could take a couple grounding deep breathes, the couple had arrived at their destination. Much to his chagrin, Hendery found himself undoing his seatbelt in front of the house on the hill. Maybe if they ended up throwing him out, he’d be tossed all the way over into the abyss below (or onto the front lawn, depending on the arm strength). He knows objectively everything will be fine, but why do Xiaojun’s parents have to live in the scariest house he has ever seen? Is it an intimidation thing? Maybe this is an AirBnb they rented to try to scare Hendery away, as a test to see if he’s good enough for their son.  
Breaking him out of his mind black hole was the comforting presence of Xiaojun’s hand in his, the cool presence helping to calm him. He always appreciates this about the other, how he seems to have this soothing effect on him, like he had so much more life experience (despite being only a month older). Together, they march up to the front door. Hendery has his free hand poised to knock, insisting that he wants to be the one to say hello first when the door flings itself open, shocking Hendery back a few feet, disconnecting him from his boyfriend. He lands on his butt pretty hard, too shocked to catch himself on the way down.  
Taking a look up, he is surprised to see the interior was less creepy than he expected, if he was honest with himself. Almost expecting cobwebs to be covering every surface, the place was nothing like the haunted house he was imagining before. Pleasant, warm light washes over him and what looks like an elegant crystal chandelier is situated at the middle of the ceiling. Dusting himself off and taking a couple tentative steps forward he hopes to see more, but is taken aback by the lack of someone at the door.  
“Where uh, is your family? Who opened the door…?”  
Xiaojun waves his hand around in the air, reaching with the other to grab Hendery again, now walking inside with a new crease between his brow, “Don’t worry about it, they can be dramatic, to say the least.”  
Now inside, all the glamor could really be taken in. Hendery hadn’t seen such a richly decorated home in his entire life, the walls were a rich red color, but not so dark they didn’t reflect the golden light coming from the chandelier above. If he craned his neck, he could see the ornate detail on the ceiling, as well as the fanciest frieze he had ever seen. There were so many more objects in the main hall, most looking antique, his eyes could barely scan over everything, glazing over trying to process the home he had just entered.  
Hendery jumps when he hears a clap, followed by a gasp and approaching footsteps. His head snaps over to the source of the sound and is face to face with two individuals he has never seen before.  
“Ah,” Xiaojun sighs, “my parents.”  
For having a 21 year old son, his boyfriend’s parents don’t look a day over 25. The shorter one has surprisingly cat-like features, and an inviting smile, and the taller is a little broader, with a button nose and warm eyes, almost a reddish brown. They shake his hand and introduce themselves and insist he can call them Ten and Kun. Just as Xiaojun said before, they’re dressed similarly in red and black, with Ten sporting some gold accessories. Hendery feels like melting into the floor. All this stress just for Xiaojun’s parents to be completely lovely?  
Xiaojun next to him is tense as his parents begin to fawn over Hendery.  
“Oh Xiaojun, you didn’t tell us he was this handsome! He looks so healthy!” Ten crooned, grabbing a little pinch of Hendery’s cheek with more strength than he would have expected, causing Hendery gasp in pain.  
Ten immediately pulls his hand back like it burned and takes a step toward Kun, who until that point was trying to make conversation with Xiaojun.  
Xiaojun gives Ten a glare, and steps towards his boyfriend, throwing what Hendery perceives as a protective arm around his shoulder.  
Kun clears his throat, “So sorry about that Hendery, I do hope you don’t bruise.” He turns to Xiaojun with a shrug, “Apologies, but you know how your father gets when he’s excited.”  
It’s suddenly very, very quiet. Ten and Kun keep glancing at him, but Ten’s stares go a little deeper, like he’s searching for something, but Hendery has no idea what that could be. Kun tries to shoot the pair a smile, but Xiaojun’s arm only tightens around him. Hendery hates feeling like he’s the reason everything is awkward, and shakily steps away from Xiaojun, who quickly turns to face him.  
“Y-Your home is so beautiful!” Hendery tries, hoping for anything to break the silence.  
Kun’s hands come together before extending his arms outward, “Perfect! Yes, a tour is in order for the boyfriend here, don’t you think?”  
Xiaojun scowls, “I think we should just start dinner.”  
Ten shakes his head, “Nonsense, the boys aren’t done cooking yet anyways, you two arrived a little earlier than expected.”  
The boys? Hendery had no idea there was anyone else in Xiaojun’s family except for him and his parents. He guesses it’s fair he doesn’t know, since they don’t chat about family too much, but he is still surprised these ‘boys’ have never come up before in conversation. Shaking his head to himself, Hendery worries. Is it even appropriate to visit your boyfriend’s home if you don’t know he has siblings? Or at least other members of his family? Something uncomfortable shifts inside Hendery, and he tries to will it away. His attention is grabbed by Xiaojun poking his cheek (the uninjured one). His boyfriend still looks displeased, but tries a small smile for Hendery.  
“C’mon you, while you were zoning out they decided to show you the library.”  
The English major within him stirs, and he follows eagerly, still feeling cautiously optimistic about this leg of meeting the parents. At least he can worry about this among what he finds the most comfort in, literature.  
Hendery wasn’t necessarily sure what he was expecting when they said they had a library. Perhaps the initial luxury of the entrance to their home should have steeled him for this, but when Ten and Kun opened up the oak doors they were all standing in front of, he felt his jaw go slack. As the old, heavy doors creaked open Hendery’s breath stopped, suddenly clutching onto his boyfriend next to him for support. He feels Xiaojun chuckle a little, but can’t even jokingly whine to his boyfriend because of the sight in front of him. He guesses the 3-4 story look came in handy here, as Hendery had to crane his neck to even see the ceiling. There were rows and rows of books, so many he didn’t even know where to look first.  
Moving forward to look at some of the titles, he’s astonished to see the age on some of the bindings, some books looking so old they’re barely held together. Hendery suppresses the urge to touch them, but wants to continue looking at this expanse of books Xiaojun’s parents have amassed. It’s impressive they’ve even done this in the first place, especially since they’re both so young. He finds it a tad strange, but is so overwhelmed by all the volumes he’s surrounded with to think about it too much, besides, he thinks he just spotted what looks like an early edition of classic Chinese poetry he’s been wanting to cross off his list for years.  
“Hendery, why don’t you go take a look around?” Kun offers, entering Hendery’s line of sight.  
“Oh, what a great idea, yes go browse! We’ve heard you love literature! We have something to talk to our lovely son about anyway.” This comment comes from Ten, who shoots Xiaojun a quick look.  
Hendery searches for Xiaojun’s eyes, trying to read if there is something weird here about this interaction. He knows how parents can get when they haven’t seen their kid in a while. All he gets is an impassive smile and a look from his boyfriend that tells him to run along. Maybe against some better judgement, Hendery runs along and does just that.  
Walking through all the shelves here, it feels like he’s stepped back in time. Seeing books he’s had to read in his English classes, or reference in his writing is exhilarating to say the least. Figuring he’s geeked out long enough, Hendery turns around to go and find Xiaojun again, wanting to grab onto his arm and wax about how badly he wishes he could just move into this library, how he saw that book of prose he had mentioned earlier in the semester and remembered the awful project he had to make on it.  
When he finally thinks he has reached the spot where Xiaojun and his parents were, he comes upon a hushed conversation. Hendery’s curiosity overtakes him and he presses himself back against a shelf to listen quietly.  
“-do you mean he doesn’t know? Hasn’t it been long enough?” Hendery thinks it was Kun who whispers this, the words almost being hissed out of his mouth.  
Hendery thinks he can hear the frown in his boyfriend’s voice, “No! And to be honest I don’t think it has. You two are too flippant about this!”  
Heart pounding, Hendery takes a deep breath and peers through a gap in the books. What in the world are they talking about? There is still discussion going on but all he can focus on is the sound of his heart in his ears. What could be so serious he couldn’t be told about? His opportunity to further worry is stifled when he accidentally locks eyes with Ten who throws him a wink.  
“Well!” Ten claps his hands together and breaks up some of the tense atmosphere, cutting Kun right in the middle of his sentence, “I think perhaps it is time we go find your young man, hmm?”  
Hendery considers this his cue to step out, and he desperately hopes that the expression on his face is somewhat normal as he steps out to face everyone.  
“W-wow this place is huge! Got lots of cool stuff back there!”  
Luckily Ten carries on the conversation easily and puts on a warm smile, reaching over to tug Kun’s arm.  
“I’m so glad to hear that, there is a lot of history here after all. Besides, I’m sure by now the boys must be ready with dinner, shall we go?”  
Kun and Ten exit the library, leaving just Xiaojun and Hendery left in the huge expanse.  
A gentle hand reaches out to grab Hendery’s, loosely wrapped around a  
couple fingers. A breath he didn’t realize was being held was released when  
he felt Xiaojun’s thumb caressing the back of his hand.  
“Is this okay? My parents can be kinda overbearing, so I was really nervous about how you would fare,” there’s worry etched in Xiaojun’s brow, “Do you feel okay, should we leave?”  
“I feel fine… really”  
Hendery says this to not only convince Xiaojun, but also himself. There’s something weird here, but he’s not about to give his boyfriend’s parents a bad impression on their first meeting. It’s just dinner, another two hours max. He can do this.  
“Baby,” Xiaojun’s eyes look soft when they make eye contact, putting his hands on Hendery’s shoulders “Thanks for going through with this, it means a lot to my parents.”  
Hendery feels himself melt and he takes a step closer until their toes are touching.  
“Of course, I love you, silly. I’d do anything for you.” He gives the shorter boy a quick peck.  
Maybe it’s that they are alone now, and the day’s earlier nerves have somewhat subsided, but they both smile and go in for a kiss, something soft and sweet at first, conveying all the affection they feel right now. The moment Xiaojun bites a little hard on Hendery’s bottom lip however, things heat up. Xiaojun’s hands start to wander a little from Hendery’s shoulders to his hips, dragging him over to a bookshelf to push him up against it. If Hendery’s head hit one of the shelves a little too hard he’d never say. Unfortunately, a throat clearing interrupts them.  
“As much as you two are adults and are free to do what you wish with your alone time, I am here to inform you that dinner is ready.” Kun looks them both clearly in the eye, the ghost of a smirk on his lips, and then immediately turns around and leaves, gone in an instant.  
Ripping apart like teenagers who were caught together in a childhood bedroom, Hendery let out a shaky laugh, matching what Xiaojun lets out.  
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve worked up quite an appetite.” Hendery sends his boyfriend a cheeky wink.  
Xiaojun responds with a huff and a gentle smack on the shoulder, but Hendery catches a small smile.  
“Let’s just go already, they’re waiting.”  
And waiting they were, after being dragged through the labyrinth that was Xiaojun’s childhood home, the pair finally arrived before the dining room. Perhaps by this point Hendery should have been used to the grandeur he has witnessed in the rest of the home, but the dining room astounds him with its beauty. Stained glass adorns one of the walls, depicting what looks like a gruesome medieval battle, perhaps something personally commissioned by Ten and Kun? He can’t say it is exactly what he would have picked for a dining room, but his parent’s home is in the suburbs so what does he know? The wallpaper that surrounds the rest of the walls looked gilded, and the light from the domed chandelier above casts gentle shadows around the room.  
Right in the center of the room is a long dining room table, which probably at most could fit 20 or more guests Hendery guesses. Instead of that the table is seated with 5 people, 3 of which Hendery has never seen before. Quickly, they are waived over and seated, Ten sitting at Hendery’s right which doesn’t ease his nerves, but at least he’s a somewhat familiar face.  
“Xiaojun, why don’t you introduce Hendery to the rest of your family?” Ten offers.  
“That’s Yangyang, he’s like my brother,” he gestures to the left, the youngest looking person at the table smiles, gums prominent.  
Then, motioning to the head of the table, “That’s my cousin,” Xiaojun pulls a face, “Sicheng.”  
When Hendery looks over, Sicheng does not appear to be paying him much mind, more interested in looking at a painting on the wall.  
“Lastly is Yukhei, he’s also my cousin, though from the other side of the family.”  
Yukhei laughs at this, a glint in his eye, but he seems friendly enough.  
Hendery quickly ducks his head.  
“Nice to meet you all, I’m Hendery-”  
“How old are you?” Yangyang cuts him off.  
“Same as age Xiaojun, twenty!” He answers, hoping the questions from the family don’t get too much more complicated than this.  
With that response there are a range of reactions throughout the table. Hendery sees Xiaojun shift to look at the ceiling suddenly, as Yangyang and Yukhei erupt in laughter, laughing a little harder than Hendery would have expected, though he’s not even sure what is so funny in the first place. Ten, Kun, and Sicheng aren’t smiling though. Sicheng looks like he’s trying to glare at Xiaojun who is pointedly not looking at any of them.  
“Okay, boys enough laughing,” Kun interjects and waits for the giggling to quiet down “Let’s ask our guest how he enjoyed the library since that’s in his field of interest.”  
Hendery takes in a deep breath, and remembers the previous room.  
“It was,” exhale, “really nice. You guys have a lot of really rare texts, I also noticed a Lord Byron volume I have been meaning to get my hands on.”  
A corner of Ten’s mouth lifts up, “Oh honey, Lord Byron really wasn’t all that, a little rude if you ask me.”  
“A-ah, rude?” Hendery couldn’t say he was up to date with academia’s opinions about the English author’s character, so perhaps there was something he didn’t know about.  
Kun looked like he was trying hard to not roll his eyes.  
“Oh yes, he liked to make assumptions, that’s for sure, I can’t say he was the most understanding man.”  
“Xiaojun,” Sicheng cuts in, leaning back in his chair looking as uninterested as ever. “Maybe you could explain to your boyfriend here what Ten means?”  
“Boys,” Ten warns. “Let’s play nice here.”  
After that they all quieted down and started to eat, as Ten didn’t want any culinary efforts to go to waste on this getting cold. Hendery stared down at his plate, steak with a couple sides. Although incredibly shaken from just about every social interaction he has had tonight and the tension in the air, he still needed to eat, so he cut into his steak to find it almost overcooked. Attempting to be nonchalant, he looks around at the plates of others around him to find their steaks cooked at what seems to be a comfortable rare.  
He tries to finish all the food on his plate, really, his parents raised him well, but the slightly rubbery texture of the well-done steak does not go amiss to his palate. Everything else is eaten fine, but the meat is picked at as conversation flows between the family.  
“-told you it was cooked too much!” Yangyang’s whine cuts through his thoughts.  
“Well I thought people like him don’t like it bloody, wouldn’t it be weird for him to eat it like that. I think we did right to assume.” Comes Yukhei’s response, refusing to back down.  
At this Yangyang stands up and points directly at Hendery’s plate.  
“No, see! It’s the only thing he didn’t eat! You don’t even have any friends like him, you and Sicheng are weird.”  
“Can you two shut up?” Sicheng all but whispers to them.  
Turning to his left Hendery sees his boyfriend look like he has entered another plane of existence. It’s not that Hendery did not expect to be a topic of conversation, he is visiting his boyfriend’s family, but this is something he was unprepared for, and now his boyfriend seems to have checked out as well. Nerves start to eat at his stomach, and his hands shake a little, getting tingly. The two cousins are still going at it, going red in the face, though Hendery can barely focus on their exact words right now, only wondering what in the world they mean by ‘someone like him’. Before he can even think the words leave his mouth, though his voice is small.  
“What do you mean someone like me?”  
The fighting pauses for a second, as it seems he was heard. Yangyang and Yukhei look like they want to say something, but the stony look on Kun and Ten’s faces stop them. Kun paints his face with a small smile.  
“They don’t mean anything by it, now let’s try to-”  
A hand slams on the table, if Hendery was any less awake he might think he imagined what looks like splintered wood coming out from Sicheng’s hand on the tablecloth.  
“You aren’t like me, Hendery. Not like any of us. You’re different here, do you know why?”  
He’s pretty sure he’s shaking like a leaf at the sudden attention. Fear fills the pit of his stomach and hangs heavy, making him feel like he can’t look away. It reaches his head too and he feels like where his brain once was is now cotton, pushing out against his ears.  
“No…?”  
All his worst fears for this night are coming true. He did something wrong, he doesn’t know what, but he must have and now this family hates him. Maybe it was his clothes, or his hair, or his face, or personality, or any combination of things about him, but his panic feels like it’s reaching its peak and he wants to go home.  
Sicheng doesn’t say anything to Hendery’s reaction. In fact he seems satisfied somehow, and gives the first smile of the night Hendery has seen. Just breaching over his bottom lip is an elongated tooth, a canine, sharper than any knife out on the table currently and suddenly it clicks. He feels fucking crazy, but it clicks.  
“Oh my god.” is all he gets out before he blanches and stumbles up from the table.  
Yangyang and Yukhei complain about Sicheng ruining the surprise but that’s all Hendery hears before he’s out of the room, unsure even where he’s going. He doesn’t know where he’s going or what he plans to do. What the fuck.  
“What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?” Is all he repeats as he tries to find the entrance to the house, unsure as to where he is even going.  
Ending up in front of the familiar door of the library, Hendery slumps down, his knees pulled up to his chest. Maybe he should be concerned about the fact that he just ran out of having a nice dinner with vampires. Is he gonna have to deal with not just pissing them off, but like, vampire pissing them off? His boyfriend’s vampire family. His… vampire boyfriend’s family? He has a vampire boyfriend.  
His forehead hitting his knees, Hendery sighs, almost feeling like crying. He doesn’t even know how to leave, or where his boyfriend is. Would Jun even want to look for him? Would he be mad at him for freaking out? Should Hendery be mad at him right now? So wrapped up in his own confusion, he didn’t hear the light footsteps approaching him.  
“Hey.” His boyfriend’s voice wavers, more breath than anything.  
Hendery doesn’t want to look up, his hair had fallen over his face and he can’t see. Which might be a good thing, because he’s afraid he might really cry if he looks at Xiaojun right now.  
“Baby, can you look at me? I need to talk to you.”  
Hendery shakes his head, lifting up his head a little, the sudden light coming into his eyes causing him to recoil a bit.  
“Can you at least tell me what you’re thinking?” Xiaojun asks this so softly, it causes Hendery to finally break.  
He starts to shake with tears, his shoulders violently shaking up and down, all the stress of waiting for this night, and the disaster it was finally laying on him. He feels himself being shifted up to stand and he’s led somewhere. Too occupied with crying his eyes out he doesn't even notice, nor care where he’s being brought.  
Finally he feels himself sitting down on something soft and a pair of arms wraps around him.  
“I’m so sorry for tonight, it wasn't supposed to go like this…” Xiaojun trails off, his voice getting small until Hendery could barely hear him.  
Suddenly Hendery feels a rush of annoyance.  
What was it supposed to go like then? Was I supposed to be fooled for the whole night and then we go home and everything is fine while I made myself look like an idiot in front of your family?”  
The room is silent and Xiaojun looks down at his hands.  
“I know it’s not an excuse, it’s really not. I felt so bad the whole night, I just… didn’t know how to tell you.”  
He pauses to finally look up before continuing.  
“You really mean the whole world to me, I love you so, so much. My parents sprung this on me because it’s the first time in like, 150 years I’m in a relationship and I just couldn’t risk losing you. But I see now that I only ended up hurting you, so I am so sorry. I get why you’re mad at me.”  
Hendery sniffles, before letting out the tiniest smile at the apology.  
“I’m not that mad baby, actually I totally get why you were afraid, really, but I think it was a little unfair for me to come in here unprepared.”  
Hendery pulls Xiaojun closer, who had moved away during his apology, and takes one of his hands in his.  
“Just, next time I need to meet some non-human creatures, please let me know, especially if they’re important to you. I want to be prepared.”  
“Yes, yes, you’re totally right. I just wanted to protect you, but I’m not above you or deserve to keep you in the dark. I won’t do that again.”  
“You promise?” Hendery leans his head on Xiaojun’s shoulder.  
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”  
“Wait, what the hell aren’t you already dead? Does that even count?” Hendery’s head shoots up.  
Xiaojun covers his face with his hands and falls back onto the bed.  
“Darling, all you do is write essays. haven’t you heard of a figure of speech?”  
The younger boy pokes him in his side.  
“I know I’m just pulling your leg,” he laughs out before gasping, “Oh my god.”  
Pulling himself up, Xiaojun tilts his head.  
“Is everything okay?”  
“Yeah totally, I just realized someone wrote a story like this in my creative fiction class this year about vampire girlfriends… ”  
“Hendery please, this is not the time!”  
“C’monnnn, it’s funny! You have to laugh after tense situations!”  
Xiaojun takes this as his cue to drag Hendery down with him, fingers deftly tickling at his sides until his boyfriend is gasping for air.  
Laughing into Hendery’s ear he asks,  
“Is this what you meant by needing some laughs?”  
Still recovering, Hendery throws his hands up in the universal signal for giving up.  
“Obviously I underestimated your ability for producing laughter.”  
Once the laughter died down they both stayed in their respective positions, laying back against the mattress. Hendery looked around the room and guessed it to be Xiaojun’s, spotting piles of sheet music up on a desk, and what looks like a small viola case he remembers his boyfriend mentioning he had left at home a few weeks ago. Taking in all the small trinkets, Hendery thinks that instead of holding a grudge about this, it really did help him learn more about Xiaojun, and know that there’s infinite more things to hear about. They have a lot to talk about, but no one’s going anywhere.  
“Should we go out to speak to your family again at some point?”  
“Probably.”  
“Do you want to?”  
“Not really.”  
“Hmm,” Xiaojun can hear the smile in Hendery’s voice, “I guess while we wait you can just tell me about the fact that I’m your first love in over a hundred years and that I’m the best and am very cute.”  
Flipping over to face away from his boyfriend Xiaojun groans,  
“You are insufferable.”  
“I am a gift.”  
“You know I love you.”  
“You know I love you too, a lot.” Hendery replies, gentle warmth spreading from his chest radiating to the rest of his body.  
Whatever big conversations that needs to happen could come tomorrow, or the day after, or later that night. They’ll emerge from the room at some point, and Hendery will make jokes about dunking on teenagers obsessed with vampires around the world, while Xiaojun pretends to be exasperated. But as of right now, the two boys just lie down, shifted around to hold each other close.  
“I’m feeling pretty sleepy, can we stay here?”  
Hendery gets this out with his face smashed into Xiaojun’s side.  
“Of course, you had a tough night, let’s get some sleep.”  
Hendery hums and wiggles himself closer into Xiaojun’s personal space.  
“Love you, Jun.”  
“Love you too, Hen.”  
“Goodnight, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Xiaojun sleepily teases.  
“Shouldn’t I be worrying about you biting me now? Not some bugs.”  
“Not in my parents house, silly.”  
“Oh my god.” Hendery shoves his face into the mattress.  
And they drift off like that.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading :) this is my favorite thing I have written so far and I am so glad and honored to have participated in this fest ! please let me know if you enjoyed, i will very much appreciate it
> 
> twt: henderyvi


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